In The World Is Flat By Thomas L. Friedman

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Document Summary In this document, the evaluative methods of Thomas L. Friedman in the selected sections of the World is Flat will be analyzed in terms of Wolcott’s steps for better thinking model.
Defining / Framing the Problem One of the first steps in Wolcott’s model is to frame the problem. Friedman explains that the world is constantly improving and innovating, a continuous adaptation to streamline production to complete tasks at a much faster pace. With this seemingly breakneck speed of change it can, at times, be hard to keep up with all the modern technology and practices to accomplish your tasks. In the World is Flat, the problem is how innovative globalization ideas have seemed to pass right by many people as though they
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Friedman creates the question to the United States citizen, now what is there to do in order to survive? With more jobs being outsourced overseas, it forces the American people to rethink if free trade is still a viable solution. Ricardo’s idea on free trade put the world into a comparative advantage trading system where the goods of one nation are traded for that of another. This way of trading then, in turn, benefits both parties. While this may be good for the other countries, Friedman shows how it hurts many Americans. Employees are forced to change their career choice because they were outsourced. Entirely new skill sets would have to be learned in order to survive. He goes over the lump of labor theory, giving scenarios about how globalization is ruining the lives of Americans. There are only so many jobs in this world and most of them are leaving America, leaving many people wanting anti-free trade in order to protect what is in …show more content…
Many still believe in Ricardo’s theory as it does exactly as it describes, benefits both parties. He explains how American workers can outsource tasks so it can be done easier and cheaper. This leaves Americans to keep innovating. By showing through his stories how America is not the best at everything, he is able to make people think more logically. He is able to show how globalization can benefit not only Americans but many people across the globe. India has thrived due to outsourcing. People are now going to school to be able to perform better at their new jobs that were from outsourced from America. There are those who still think that outsourcing is bad, however, Friedman is able to humanize many of those people that have taken those jobs. He shows how not only the individuals but how entire countries are beginning to thrive. By looking at both sides of this issue, Friedman is able to demonstrate his control for bias. He does not show only the negative or positive, rather he gives enough information on both sides. By doing so he is then able to support his claim based on what he has

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